Garment



Sept. 7, 1954 W. FREEDMAN GARMENT Filed April 24, 1952 INVEN TOR.

M/ILLIAM FREEDMAN av ZZZ-M Z. W

I) 7" TORNEY Patented Sept. 7, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENTWilliam Freedman, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application April 24, 1952, Serial No. 284,177

2 Claims. i

This invention relates generally to clothing, and more particularly to aladys garment of a type usually worn in conjunction with a skirt, thesame being generally known in the art as shirts or blouses.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide blouseconstruction in which the collar portion thereof may be displayed in avariety of positions thereon, so that the same blouse may take differentappearances, the same varying according to the particular disposition ofthe collar portion with respect to the other parts of the device.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of garmentconstruction of the class described in which there is provided aremovable decorative element which may be positioned upon the blouseconstruction in a wide variety of positions, to combine with the collarportion thereof in creating novel effects.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of blousestructure of the class described in which the cost of fabricationthereof may be of a relatively low order, with consequent wide sale,distribution and use.

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of ladies blousestructure having removable decorative elements which may be used inconjunction therewith, the same being selectively positionable either onthe collar portion of the garment or on the front panels thereof,

A feature of the invention lies in the fact that the blouse may be usedin conjunction with a number of differently arranged or coloreddecorative elements, thereby permitting a single blouse to be used inconjunction with a very large number of skirt or suit combinations asdesired.

These objects and features, as well as other incidental ends andadvantages, will become more clearly apparent during the course of thefollowing disclosure, and be pointed out in the appended claims.

On the drawings, to which reference will be made in the specification,similar reference characters have been employed to designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing an embodiment of theinvention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective showing theupper rear portion of the garment.

Figure 3 is a view in perspective showing the attachment of the collarelement to the neckband disposed at the upper portion of the blouseelement of the device.

Figure 4.- is a fragmentary view in perspective showing a first positionin which the collar element may be placed with respect to the blouseelement.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional View as seen fromthe plane 5-5 on Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a View in perspective showing one of the decorative elementswhich may be used in conjunction with the blouse element.

Figure 7 is a view in perspective showing the engagement of thedecorative element shown on Figure 6 secured in position about theneckband at the upper portion of the blouse element.

Figure 8 is a view in perspective corresponding to that seen on Figure 7but showing a pair of decorative elements in position upon the frontpanels comprising the blouse element.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary view in perspective corresponding to that seenon Figure 8, but showing an alternate relative position of thedecorative elements with respect to the blouse element.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary view in perspective showing anotherarrangement of the collar element and decorative element in positionthereupon.

lln accordance with the invention, the device, generally indicated byreference character I0, comprises broadly: a blouse element I2, a collarelement l4, and left and right decorative elements [6 and I8respectively.

The blouse element l2 may be of conventional construction, including aleft front panel 20, a right front panel 22, the panel 22 having a firstrow of buttons 24 disposed thereon which are engageable to correspondingbuttonholes 25 on the right front panel 22. A second row of buttons 26are sewn upon the right front panel 22 at a point rightwardly of thebuttonholes 25, so that when the device is buttoned as shown on Figure lthe buttons 24 and 26 are arranged in parallel rows. The rear panel 28may be formed integrally with the front panels 20 and 22. The left andright sleeves 30 and 32 may be either of short length as shown on Figurel or of a longer length, as desired.

The collar element I4 is best seen on Figures 3 and 4 and includes aneckband 34 which extends across the upper part of the blouse element l2to which there is attached a reinforcing band 36, a shirred member 38being in turn secured to the reinforcing band 36.

The neckband 34 is bounded by an upper edge 4G, a lower edge 42 andterminal edges 44 and 46. A air of buttonholes 48 are engageable withbuttons 50, the buttons being so positioned as to be in line with therows of buttons 24 and 26 when the device is completely buttoned asshown on Figure 1. A pair of side engagement buttons 54 and a rearengagement button 56 are also sewn on the outer surface of the neckband34, as shown on Figure 3, the same serving to engage portions of thedecorative elements IE or I 8, as will more fully appear hereinafter.

The reinforcing band 36 is preferably formed from material similar tothat employed in forming the neckband 34, and is of a widthcorresponding thereto. It is bounded by an upper edge 56, a lower edge63 and terminal edges 62 and 64, and is of a total length slightly lessthan that of the neckband. The reinforcing band 36 is provided with asingle buttonhole 66 so positioned as to overlie one of the buttonholes48 on the neckband 34 when the band 36 is folded about the line ofinterconnection with the band 34.

The shirred member 38 is secured at the upper edge 68 thereof to thelower edge 69 of the reinforcing member 3fi, the same being also boundedby a lower edge l and side edges 72 and M.

The decorative elements it and [8 are substantially identical, andaccordingly,'to avoid needless repetition, a detailed description of theelement IE will serve equally well to describe the element IS.

The decorative element !6 is generally rectangular in configuration, andis bounded by a gathered or shirred edge '55, an oppositely disposedfree edge it as well as end. edges 86 and 82. The element is formed fromany suitable textile material, and if desired may have a binding of lace86 secured to the edges 13-82. Along the athered edge '16 there isprovided a plurality of buttonholes 54 which are spaced from each othera distance equal to that between the buttons 2 3, 26 or between thebuttons disposed on the outer surface of the member 34, all of which aresubstantially equal.

As has been mentioned, the device may be worn with a wide variety ofnovel arrangements of collar element and decorative element. A fewexamples are shown upon the drawing, but it is to be understood that amuch larger variety is possible.

On Figure 1 there is shown a simple arrangement where a military stylecollar is desired. In this figure the parts comprising the collarelements are disposed inwardly of the garment so that the outer surfaceof the member 34 is exposed to view when the device is worn.

On Figure 4- the reinforcing member 36 is folded about the neckband 34,and the shirred member 38 is allowed to fall loosely about the outsideof the latter member. In this arrangement, the buttonhole 85 becomesaligned with one of the buttonholes 46 whereby one of the buttons 59 maypenetrate both holes as shown on Figure 5.

The arrangement on Figure 7 is essentially similar to that shown onFigure 1, except that the decorative element It has been engaged bymeans of the buttons El56 which penetrate the holes M. The end edges 88and 82 of the element it are disposed forwardly in the arrangement shownon Figure 7, but if desired, other variations of this arrangement may bemade.

On Figure 10, the reinforcing band 35 has been folded about the neckband34 and the shirred member 38 and is allowed to project upwardlysurrounding the neck of the wearer.

011 Figure 8 the decorative elements l5 and i8 are buttoned directly tothe button rows 24 and 26 so that the same appear as pendants.

On Figure 9 the decorative elements are partially secured to the buttonrows 24 and 26 and partially on the buttons projecting from the outersurface of the neckband 34.

Various combinations of the possibilities of the variations ofarrangement shown on the drawings are possible. For example,arrangements shown on Figures '7 and 9 may be combined with those shownon Figures 1 and 10 instead of that shown on Figure 4. ll desired, bythe use of three decorative elements the arrangement shown on Figure 7may be combined with those shown on Figures 8 and 9, or it is possibleto combine all of the arrangements shown on Figures 7 to 10 inclusive.

It may thus be seen that I have invented novel and highly usefulimprovements in blouse construction in which it is possible to have avery low cost to produce a very large number of decorative arrangements,so that a relatively few number of blouses may be employed to forminteresting style patterns in conjunction with other articles ofclothing worn by the wearer. The inventive features are simple inconstruction, and may be formed by those workers skilled in the art towhich the invention pertains, without the knowledge of any additionalskills. The costs of incorporating the novelty features into the garmentare very low, and owing to the fact that the decorative elements may becompletely detached from the blouse element comprising the device it ispossible to use a very large number of the decorative elements ofdifferent colors to still further enlarge the style possibilities of thegarment.

I Wish it to be understood that I do not consider the invention limitedto the exact details of structure shown and set forth in thisspecification, for obvious modifications will occur to those skilled inthe art to which the present invention pertains.

I claim:

1. Combination blouse and decorative elements therefor comprising a leftfront panel element, a right front panel element and a neckband disposedabove said panel elements and interconnecting the same; a collar elementengageable with said neckband; first and second elongated decorativeelements; said left front panel element having a row of equally spacedbuttons on one edge thereof, said right panel element having a row ofcorresponding buttonholes therein upon an adjacent edge, and a secondrow of buttons parallel to and equal in number to said buttonholes; saiddecorative elements each being of generally elongated configuration andhaving a row of buttonholes along one longer edge thereof correspondingin spacing to said rows of buttons; said neckband having a plurality ofbuttons thereon having a spaced relationship corresponding to saidbuttonholes in said decorative elements; said collar element also havinga plurality of buttonholes corre' sponding in spaced relationship to thebuttons on said neckband; whereby said decorative elements may beselectively engaged with the buttons on said front panel elements, orthe buttons on said neckband, or partially with the buttons on saidfront panel elements and said buttons on said neckband.

2. Combination blouse and shirred decorative elements thereforcomprising a left front panel element, a right front panel element and aneckband disposed above said panel elements and interconnecting thesame; a collar element engageable with said neckband; first and secondelongated shirred decorative elements; said left front panel elementhaving a row of equally spaced buttons on one edge thereof, said rightpanel element having a row of corresponding buttonholes therein upon anadjacent edge, and a second row of buttons parallel to and equal innumber to said buttonholes; said shirred decorative elements each beingof generally elongated configuration and having a row of buttonholesalong one longer edge thereof corresponding in spacing to said rows ofbuttons; said neckband having a plurality of buttons thereon having aspaced relationship corresponding to said buttonholes in said shirreddecorative elements; said collar element also having a plurality ofbuttonholes corresponding in spaced relationship to the buttons on saidneckband; whereby said shirred decorative elements may be selectivelyengaged with the buttons on said front panel elements, or the buttons onsaid neckband, or partially with the buttons on said front panelelements and said buttons on said neckband.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

